The third edition of Super Touring Power was another fantastic festival of touring car racing from all eras. A detailed report of the racing is available in the race reports section of this website.
Here, for posterity, is a rundown of all the Super Touring and BTC-Touring cars that took part.
#1 John Whelan (Opel Vectra)
Irishman John Whelan and his 1996 RML-built Opel Vectra were first-time visitors to Super Touring Power. The car contested the ’96 South African championship in star driver Mike Briggs’ hands, before spending several seasons in the Australian series.
Whelan’s weekend started badly when a tyre blowout in Friday testing caused damage to the front-left corner. After collecting a new wing, the team got the car out for a couple of green-flag laps on Saturday afternoon before being sidelined by a differential problem.
#5 Colin Turkington/Jason Hughes (Vauxhall Vectra)
Jason Hughes’s Vauxhall Vectra (a spare chassis from the 2000 season), has been a mainstay of the CTCRC Super Tourers series, winning the championship in 2023. For STP3, he handed the car to four-time British Touring Car champion Colin Turkington to make his Super Touring debut before returning to the seat himself for the second day of racing.
Turkington showed his class in an impressive display despite being hampered by suspension dramas. They prevented any running on Friday, meaning Saturday qualifying on the Grand Prix circuit was Turkington’s first time in the car. He put it on pole by more than 1.5 seconds and was heading for victory until the right-front suspension failed through Graham Hill Bend.
A similar problem for Hughes in qualifying on the Indy circuit limited him to sixth on the grid but the former BTCC racer charged through for a double victory.
#8 David Power (Ford Mondeo)
After a year away following its heavy accident in the inaugural Super Touring Power, Welshman David Power returned his 1996 German SuperTourenWagen Cup Ford Mondeo, built by Schubel Engineering. It was raced in period by Grand Prix winner Thierry Boutsen or Roland Asch (perhaps both) and World Rally champion Stig Blomqvist.
Power had a better time at STP3, qualifying 13th on both days and bringing the car home safely in all three races. He had a best result of eighth on the Grand Prix circuit, just beaten by Roger Stanford’s newer Vauxhall Astra, and survived a late brush with Jason Hughes’s winning car in the first Indy circuit contest.
#11 Roger Stanford (Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch)
CTCRC stalwart Roger Stanford returned his ex-Colin Turkington 2005 BTC-T spec car, built by Triple Eight Race Engineering from a Mk5 Astra shell, having debuted it at this event last year.
After a lifetime in rear-wheel-drive machinery, the one-time Pre-’66 and Pre-’93 Touring Car champion took the front-wheel-drive Astra to a class win and seventh overall on the Grand Prix circuit. Having retired from Sunday’s first race on the Indy circuit, he climbed from the back of the grid into the top 10 later on.
#15 AJ Owen (Ford Mondeo Si)
The Owen family’s Andy Rouse Engineering-built Mondeo (pictured above at last year’s event) dates from 1993. However, it runs in 1996 livery having been used as a display car by West Surrey Racing when Dick Bennetts’ squad took over the works Ford contract. It has also been transplanted with a two-litre Duratec engine to make it viable to race.
AJ’s Super Touring Power 2 ended on a high with victory in the final race, but this year’s edition never got going for the Buckinghamshire racer after a clutch slave cylinder problem struck in Friday testing. Instead, he switched to dad Craig’s Ford Sierra Cosworth to compete in the Blue Oval Saloon Series.
#17 Rob Carvell/Allan Scott (Mazda 323F)
Tom Walkinshaw Racing engine manager Allan Scott has owned his unique Roger Dowson-built 1995 Mazda 323F for several years and has entered it for sportscar ace James Kellett in the previous two editions of Super Touring Power. Kellett impressed in 2023 but was thwarted by fuel-system problems last year.
The Mazda, powered by the same V6 as the Ford Mondeo, holds the distinction of never having raced in period after a deal with ABBA session drummer and ex-Formula 1 driver Slim Borgudd fell through, but it made up for that with an extensive career at club level.
This year, Kiwi Scott allowed himself to share the driving seat with experienced tin-top racer Rob Carvell, who took the wheel on the Grand Prix circuit. Carvell took the car to fifth overall before handing it back to its owner who twice finished fifth.
#21 Matty Evans (Vauxhall Cavalier)
After installing Kevin Clarke in his storied Vauxhall Cavalier last year, owner Matty Evans got behind the wheel himself at Super Touring Power 3, but experienced no better luck. Qualifying ninth overall in one of the oldest cars was a promising start, but his weekend ended when the Cavalier put a conrod through its block in the first race.
The car itself has an extensive racing history, having been built by RML in 1993. It contested the Spa 24 Hours before being run for Chris Goodwin in the BTCC. It then spent a year in South Africa before privateer Ian Heward returned it to Britain and contested the 1996 and ’97 BTCC seasons in the outdated (albeit updated) machine.
#22 Rick Kerry (Peugeot 406 Coupe)
Super Touring Power debutant Rick Kerry and the EDF Motorsport squad worked wonders just to get his ex-Tim Harvey Peugeot into action. The former BTCC and TCR racer, also a Kumho BMW champion, had first joined the Super Tourers field at this year’s opening round at Donington Park, where he hit a number of teething problems.
The BTC-T spec car, built by Vic Lee Racing for 2001, finally had its new engine fitted at 2:30am on the Thursday before the event, before going to a rolling road and then managing a few laps in Friday testing. Kerry suffered brake failure in qualifying, his first time on the Grand Prix circuit, which left him 14th on the grid, before a puncture pitched him off early in the race.
With new tyres sourced for Sunday, Kerry improved to 12th on the grid and took two top-10 finishes on the Indy circuit after a close battle with Jim Pocklington in the finale.
#26 Colin Sowter (Peugeot 406)
Superperformance parts supplier Colin Sowter’s ex-Paul Radisich Peugeot 406 dates from 1998, built by Motor Sports Developments. Unsuccessful in period, with a best finish of fourth in the wet, the car went on to have spells in Australia and New Zealand.
Now in his third season racing the car, Hertfordshire man Sowter has been plagued by gremlins but managed two second-place finishes at STP2. Clutch dramas meant the 406’s freshly rebuilt gearbox had to be stripped on the Thursday before the event and another steering rack failure led to Patrick Watts stepping in to lend a replacement again.
It all came good on Saturday, when Sowter qualified fourth and finished third on the Grand Prix circuit. He improved to third on the grid on Sunday, before slipping to sixth in the race and being sidelined from race three.
#28 Jason Hughes/Colin Turkington (MG ZS)
The second of two cars brought to the event by Jason Hughes was his BTC-T spec MG ZS. A 2002 car, built by West Surrey Racing (as opposed to the previous year’s Lola chassis), it was a BTCC race winner in (the unrelated) Warren Hughes’s hands.
Fiesta champion Jason Hughes contested the 2004-2008 BTCC seasons in the ZS, before returning it to the track in historic racing over the past decade. A chronic misfire and a couple of penalties left Hughes at the back of the field on Saturday before he swapped seats with Colin Turkington.
Turkington, who made his BTCC debut in a similar model and had raced Hughes’s car a few years ago at Silverstone, qualified fourth overall on the Indy circuit, ahead of more potent Super Touring machinery. He enjoyed some fantastic scraps with Conrad Timms in the races but couldn’t quite overcome the Mondeo’s superior power, finishing fifth and fourth.
#33 Conrad Timms (Ford Mondeo)
One of the original Kiwi visitors for Super Touring Power, Conrad Timms returned with his 1995 Andy Rouse-build Ford Mondeo. Shipped all the way from New Zealand, it is believed to be the car that Kelvin Burt took to victory at Snetterton that year as well as finishing sixth at the Paul Ricard-staged World Cup.
Timms’s terrific efforts were rewarded with a fine showing on track, finishing second on the Grand Prix circuit before adding another podium on the Indy layout, where he got the better of BTCC star Colin Turkington.
#44 Stuart Caie (Vauxhall Cavalier 16v)
CTCRC chairman Stuart Caie again raced one of the oldest cars in the event, his RML-built Vauxhall Cavalier dating from 1994. The car runs in Jeff Allam’s unique livery and is believed to have been raced by John Cleland in the World Cup at Donington Park.
It then raced in slightly updated spec in South Africa and Australia before returning to Britain and spending several years in historic racing with Mark Jones.
#50 Jim Pocklington (Vauxhall Cavalier GSi)
No Super Touring car is older than Jim Pocklington’s Vauxhall Cavalier, built to the new two-litre regulations by Dave Cook for Vauxhall Sport in 1990. It was used as a development car with two-time BTCC champion Chris Hodgetts at the wheel, evaluating four- and rear-wheel-drive options.
Hodgetts gave it a few race outings that year, including on the Birmingham Superprix street circuit. He was delighted to be reunited with the car for the first time in 35 years at Brands Hatch, taking part in high-speed demo runs on Sunday.
In the races, Pocklington was unbeaten in class and even broke into the top six overall in Saturday’s Grand Prix circuit contest.
#51 Michael Lyons (Honda Accord)
One of two cars shipped to the event by Kiwi Peter Sturgeon, the 1996 ex-David Leslie Honda Accord raced by historics ace Michael Lyons was making its CTCRC Super Tourers debut.
Built by Motor Sport Developments for Honda’s second season in the BTCC, Leslie took the car to three race wins and an impressive fourth in the standings. It was then raced by Neil Crompton and Graham Dodd in the North American and Australian championships, respectively.
The very original car now carries a unique half-and-half livery, North American on the front and right, and British on the rear and left. Driving it for the first time in Friday testing, and spannered by Joe O’Connell, son of Martin O’Connell, Lyons took the fight to Turkington and Hughes in the more modern Vectra. He inherited victory when Turkington retired from the opener but ultimately had to settle for a close second in Sunday’s two Indy circuit races.
#55 Alex Morgan (Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch)
Reigning Super Tourers champion Alex Morgan (pictured above at Super Touring Power 2) was back at the wheel of father Philip’s BTC-T spec Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch, having missed the season opener at Donington Park.
A winner at last year’s event, the Power Maxed Racing-run machine suffered poor fortune at STP3, not lasting beyond qualifying on Saturday morning. Morgan initially suffered a driveshaft failure but, when that was fixed, went back out to check the car over – only to blow its engine to bits.
#60 Nigel Arkell (Honda Accord)
Like fellow Kiwi Timms, Nigel Arkell was returning to Super Touring Power having contested the inaugural event two years ago. Sadly, his 1996 Honda Accord – a Japanese-spec chassis built in Britain before being raced in North America – was one of the cars caught up in customs which meant he missed Saturday’s Grand Prix circuit running.
A regular racer in New Zealand, Arkell qualified the ex-Peter Cunningham machine ninth overall before taking seventh and sixth place finishes in the races, a step forward from his 2023 results.
#66 Paul McCarthy (Mazda Xedos 6)
Another of the most welcome Kiwi visitors, Paul McCarthy brought his Mazda Xedos 6 back to this country for the first time in over 30 years. The car was built by Roger Dowson Engineering for Brands Hatch local Patrick Watts to contest the 1993 BTCC.
Watts famously took pole position at Snetterton in the ‘rhubarb-and-custard’ liveried car before getting caught up in a first-corner pile-up. His best race results were a trio of fourth-place finishes. It was then used by Slim Borgudd to win the following year’s Nordic series before going to North America via an outing in the World Cup at Donington.
McCarthy has raced the car domestically for several years before taking the plunge to join the touring party and give the Mazda a popular homecoming. Despite being one of the oldest cars in action, McCarthy went terrifically well, finishing fourth overall on the Grand Prix circuit.
#77 Kayne Scott (Nissan Primera)
The second car shipped from New Zealand by Peter Sturgeon was his ex-Matt Neal Nissan Primera. It was built by privateer outfit Team Dynamics from a 1997 RML shell for Neal to race the following year and was then used in Formula Saloons and historic racing.
The car was driven in the first edition of Super Touring Power by four-time Bathurst winner Greg Murphy. This time it was his fellow Kiwi ex-V8 Supercars driver Kayne Scott at the wheel. Intermittent power loss, caused by a suspected faulty battery, hampered Scott all weekend but he had frontrunning pace when the car ran well. He qualified second on Sunday and was part of the lead battle in that race, finishing third.
#88 Eliot Dunmore (Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch)
A newcomer to Super Touring Power and the Super Tourers series, Eliot Dunmore had his first outing in the ex-Gavin Smith 2005 Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch, the third example on the grid. The Triple Eight-built car took four podiums in the Irishman’s hands across two years in period.
The car spent some time in Sweden and on display as a bare shell back in England before being acquired by Dunmore. He has fully restored it and gave the car its first outing at STP3, managing a best result of ninth on the Grand Prix circuit.
#116 Scott O’Donnell (Ford Mondeo)
Kiwi Scott O’Donnell, who previously brought his 1993 Ford Mondeo to the 2023 event for Paul Radisich, returned with a later Mondeo from his collection. This is the ex-Claudia Hurtgen car from Walter Wolf’s German touring car stable. Originally built with four-wheel drive, it was converted to front-wheel-drive configuration but had limited success in Hurtgen’s hands in the 1995 STW.
O’Donnell has campaigned the car at home for several years before shipping it to STP3. Another to be sadly held up in customs, he was only able to get on track on Sunday and was then plagued by a faulty battery. It prevented him finishing the day’s first race and left him a non-starter for the second.
Similar cast lists for Super Touring Power and Super Touring Power 2 are also available on this website.
All images (except #1) courtesy of CTCRC official photographer Steve Jackman/Eat My Pixels
With thanks to the excellent SuperTouringRegister for assistance with some background details.
